Critic Rating
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Director
André Téchiné
Cast
Catherine Deneuve,
Daniel Auteuil,
Laurence Côte,
Benoît Magimel,
Fabienne Babe,
Didier Bezace
Genre
Romance,
Crime,
Drama
In the middle of the night, someone brings Ivan's body home to his wife and his sad-faced, jug-eared son. Through flashbacks, the film discloses the relationships among Ivan and his brother Alex, a cop with a cleanliness fetish; siblings Juliette and Jimmy, Ivan's partners in a seedy nightclub; the love triangle of Alex, Juliette, and Marie, a professor of philosophy; and of Alex and his nephew, Ivan's dour, stoic son. Ivan's death changes every relationship.
We hate to say it, but we can't find anywhere to view this film.
San Francisco Chronicle by Edward Guthmann
Coming on the heels of Ma Saison Preferee, Thieves suggests that Techine is filling the void left by the deaths of Truffaut and Louis Malle, and ought to be considered his country's finest humanist filmmaker.
Chicago Reader by Jonathan Rosenbaum
An exquisite, haunting movie for grown-ups about love and family ties.
Chicago Sun-Times by Roger Ebert
Thieves doesn't have the Hollywood kind of ending, where everything is sorted out by who gets shot. It is about the people, not their plot. It is about how the sins of the fathers are visited on the sons, and the grandsons.
The A.V. Club by Nathan Rabin
At two and a half hours, it's a bit too long, but it's probably the most emotionally authentic film noir since The Grifters.
Variety by Leonard Klady
An abrupt change of pace from Wild Reeds, director Andre Techine's Cannes-competing Thieves (Les Voleurs) elevates a seemingly routine police drama into a Rashomon-style exploration of family and amorous ties. Handsomely and meticulously made, the film nonetheless appeals mostly to a rarefied audience.
Chicago Tribune by Michael Wilmington
The movie has something of treasure to offer us: two great screen actors, connecting magically. Why show an unconvincing world of crime, incest and violence when, with Deneuve and Auteuil, you can open up a richer world of intellect and thwarted desire? [27 Dec 1996, p.C]
Boston Globe by Jay Carr
There's a grim fatalism in Les Voleurs, with more than a few pangs of resignation and a melancholy respect for the problematic nature of life. But it's also bold and powerful and totally unpredictable as it draws its narrative strands together to conclude that the human heart can be the biggest thief of all. [17 Jan 1997, p.D5]
ReelViews by James Berardinelli
Téchiné's development of Alex and Marie is masterful; Auteuil and Deneuve keep our attention riveted to the screen whenever they're on. And, while the director doesn't succeed in plumbing the emotional depths reached by Ma Saison Préferée, there are elements of Thieves that touch us nearly as forcefully -- those moments just aren't as plentiful.
Entertainment Weekly
The cumulative effect in Thieves is quite haunting.
San Francisco Examiner by Barbara Shulgasser
Like many French movies, in the retelling this one boils down to an unremittingly silly set of characters and situations.
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